European Review

Last updated at 20:33 27 September 2007

The best strike partnership in Europe at the moment belongs to Bayern Munich, with Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni terrorising Bundesliga defences.

Klose grabbed a hat-trick and Toni also netted as Bayern put an hour of frustration behind them to score five in the last 30 minutes and thump bottom club Energie Cottbus 5-0 in front of 69,000 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

Klose has grabbed eight in six games and Toni five in seven to help their side to 21 goals in their opening seven matches and a three-point lead at the top, a feat all the more remarkable as both were summer signings who have not only settled in immediately but formed a deadly link-up.

They will have their biggest test so far this season when Bayern face the league's best defence in Leverkusen on Saturday. They are also Bayern's closest challengers after winning 2-1 at last season's surprise package Nuremberg, who qualified for the UEFA Cup but are struggling this time round.

Last season's runners-up Schalke are also moving into top gear as they won 2-0 at Duisburg to maintain their 100 per cent record, but four draws in those seven games has left them four points adrift of Bayern.

Hamburg are on the same mark after Rafael van der Vaart's fifth of the season helped them to a 3-0 win over Dortmund.

Hertha Berlin could have gone top for a day as they took on lowly Hansa Rostock on Tuesday and took a second-minute lead through Marko Pantelic's fifth of the season. Amazingly, Rostock then took complete control, levelled just before half-time, and went on to win 3-1 for their second victory in a row after starting with five defeats.

Hertha's new Swiss coach Lucien Favre came up with the novel excuse that: "The 1-0 came too early. Instead of staying calm, my players went out of control."

In Spain, the inspirational Leo Messi is preparing Barcelona fans for a possible life after Ronaldinho with another bravura performance in a 4-1 thumping of Real Zaragoza.

Messi scored two in the first 11 minutes to follow his match-winning double against Sevilla on Saturday, then helped lay on the third for Andres Iniesta as Barca led 4-1 at half-time.

The Argentinian playmaker continued to torment Zaragoza after the break, and only an extraordinarily inept display from Thierry Henry helped keep the score down.

Awestruck Zaragoza coach Victor Fernandez said: "Messi is probably the best player in the world at the moment, not only for his goals but for his all-round play."

Barca are still a point behind Villarreal, who went top for the first time in their history as goals from Nihat Kahveci and Giuseppe Rossi's fourth of the season brought a 2-0 victory over Santander.

Valencia are only behind on goals scored as two goalkeeping blunders allowed David Silva and David Villa to give them a 2-1 win at Getafe, who only have two points from five games to pile the pressure on new boss Michael Laudrup.

Sevilla suffered their third defeat in a week as a shock 3-2 home loss to Espanyol followed the Barca setback and a Champions League humbling at Arsenal.

An eerie quiet descended in the 16th minute as fans held a minute's silence in memory of former No 16 Antonio Puerta who died early in the season after collapsing on the pitch, but Sevilla conceded twice against the run of play either side of the break.

They fought back to 2-2 but Raul Tamudo, who has scored over a century of league goals for Espanyol, grabbed an 87th minute winner.

Comeback of the round was from Real Mallorca, who were two behind at home to promoted Valladolid at the break, but won 4-2 with two goals from Venezuelan midfielder Juan Arango.

In Italy, Serie A leaders Roma were pegged back for the second time in four days as an 80th-minute penalty from Adrian Mutu earned Fiorentina a 2-2 home draw.

Matteo Ferrari fouled Christian Vieri, and former Chelsea striker Mutu held his nerve to chip his penalty in.

Roma captain Francesco Totti was missing with a thigh strain but hopes to be fit for Saturday's big clash against Inter Milan, who moved level on points with a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it four in two games and six for the season with a superb double, the first a shot from the edge of the box and the second after dribbling round four defenders.

Juventus are a point adrift as a sixth of the season from France forward David Trezeguet helped them to a 4-0 beating of Reggina, all the goals coming after the break.

On the same 10-point mark are Serie A new boys Napoli, who made it three wins from four games by edging Livorno 1-0, Ruben Sosa claiming the 87th-minute goal after a blunder by Italy reserve keeper Marco Amelia.

Palermo are also on 10 points after a controversial 2-1 win over AC Milan, who have not won for four matches now.

The visitors took the lead through Clarence Seedorf after only 10 minutes, but Palermo levelled on 73 minutes when Aimo Diana converted a cross by Amauri, who appeared to control the ball with his hand. Milan's misery was completed three minutes into injury time when Fabrizio Miccoli blasted a free-kick straight through the wall.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said: "This defeat hurts because we didn't deserve it and there were some decisions that went against us. It is difficult to play better than we did."

As in England, it was League Cup week in France, and holders Bordeaux made an exit all the more surprising given their impressive start to the season.

Forced to play in Libourne as their Stade Chaban-Delmas is in use for the rugby World Cup, Bordeaux took a third-minute lead through Gabriel Obertan against next-to-bottom side Metz, but Cedric Barbosa levelled soon after the break and Babacar Gueye struck a late winner.

Struggling Lens were another club forced to move, as their Stade Bollaert is also in use for rugby, and they made some amends for a miserable start to the season by beating close rivals Lille 1-0 in Amiens with an early goal from Belgium striker Luigi Pieroni.

Second division Amiens themselves pulled off one of the shocks of the round by winning 2-0 at top-flight side Strasbourg.

On Tuesday, the expected axe finally fell on Marseille coach Albert Emon, who left the Stade Velodrome club in 16th place with just one win in their first nine games.

Forced realistically to look at out-of-work coaches, Marseille have had to settle for former Belgium full back Eric Gerets, who left Galatasaray in the summer.